Squeezing out a victory

Among other issues with his No. 12 car, the floorboard seemed too small.

“I just kind of had to squeeze into the car tighter,” Steven said this morning from his Glasgow home. “We didn’t” fix it. “We just kind of ran with it.”

Perhaps he should race with a tiny floorboard every time. Steven, in his second trip to the national race, placed seventh overall out of 62 cars in the masters division, which is for more experienced drivers ages 10 to 17.

The 14-year-old joined only a handful of other Mid-Missouri Soap Box Derby champs who have placed at the national championships. This year’s Mid-Missouri race took place June 14 on Broadway in downtown Columbia,

“It’s very rare,” said Greg Schneider, one of the Mid-Missouri Soap Box Derby’s organizers. “To place at Akron, that’s a pretty huge honor.”

Steven’s Saturday race day started against Carlos Vasquez of San Diego and Christopher Leavel of Harrisonburg, Va. Steven finished in 29.36 seconds, winning his first heat.

In Round 2, Steven placed first in his heat again, beating Ariel Darden of Ocala, Fla., in 29.39 seconds. In Round 3, however, Steven could not slide by Maddie Quinn of Vallejo, Calif. Maddie won the heat in 29.33 seconds.

In the championship round, Maddie placed second behind Megan Thornton of Cleveland. Also in the final round, Steven won his heat in 29.47 seconds, earning his seventh-place finish.

Schneider remembers about four Mid-Missouri racers placing at the Akron championships since the early 1990s. The championships were single-elimination, making every race crucial, Schneider said. The qualifying Mid-Missouri race is double-elimination.

“If you’re not on top of your game one race,” Schneider said, “you could be out.”

Steven, who will be a freshman at Glasgow High School this fall, and his brother Nathanial Adams represented Mid-Missouri at the national championships. Nathanial, a fourth-grader at Glasgow Elementary School, was knocked out of contention after his first heat.

Thomas Waggoner of Fayette, the Mid-Missouri super stock division champion, could not attend this weekend’s race.